Pitiful Betrayal
by myankletisaribbon
Summary: A story about Charlie as he tries to recover from the loss of Claire. But someone's watching him...yeah, bad summary. Chapter six up!
1. Lonesome

**_Disclaimer_**: I don't own the TV show "Lost." I take no credit for these incredible characters. I only am a person who enjoys writing and appreciates good writing.

If you dared to pass by the fire--perhaps on your way to sleep in the caves, perhaps to get a drink of water--if you chose to ignore the fire's lingering warmth, you might've heard the silent sound a fret makes when hands are placed tentatively on it, the sound of fingers moving up and down the neck of a guitar. You would see a hunched over figure, faintly hiding in the shadows obviously trying to make itself as small as possible. Would you be frightened? No, of course not. You would know that it was Charlie, attempting to capture a small bit of sad music that was floating around his guitarlessness, empty mind.

Charlie put his fingers on the C chord. Tried to strum it. His fingers dance along the edges of the strings, flirting with remembrance. He licked his chapped lips and tried again. Still, nothing.

He heard a cough and took his eyes off the guitar and looked at the bare feet in front of him. He looked up, and saw Jack. Jack, with a bottle of water in his hand.

Jack flinched at the sight of Charlie's eyes. They were hollow and empty, and red, like he'd been crying. His neck was still scarred. Jack quickly handed the water bottle to Charlie, who gulped it down greedily. When he was finished, Jack asked, "Are you…hungry?" Charlie nodded slowly and confused. Jack smiled sadly. Sometimes, you needed to remind Charlie to eat. "Okay," Jack said. "I'll get you some food."

He walked over to the fire, where the survivors were roasting one of Locke's latest catches. He glanced over at Kate, who said quickly, "I want to take Charlie picking tomorrow."

Jack looked at her hard. "Are you serious?" he asked. "Do you think he even wants to go in the jungle?" "Shhh!" Kate hushed. They both looked behind them, but Charlie did not stir. "It'll be good for him," Kate said in a hushed tone. "It will make him feel like he's needed." "Claire needed him," Jack muttered. Kate looked at him as if she had never seen him. "Jack!" "What? It's the truth! The woman was pregnant, she should've never left the crash site." "I can't believe you'd say something like that, Jack," Kate said quietly, refusing to look at him.

There was awkward silence for a few moments. Jack tore some boar off of the spit and stood up. Kate still wouldn't look at him. He sighed. "Okay," he muttered, beaten. "I'll ask him."

He walked heavily over to Charlie. Charlie looked up and took the meat from Jack. Jack said quickly, "Kate wants to know if you want to go fruit picking tomorrow with her." Charlie's listless head snapped up quickly. "Why?" Jack hesitated before he spoke. "She needs someone to protect her." "Oh…" Charlie was quiet for a few moments. "Will Sawyer be going?" Jack smiled. Everyone on the island harbored some distaste for Sawyer. "No…no…he's staying right here." Charlie nodded, again confused.

Jack smiled slightly and told Charlie not to stay up too late, and walked over to where Kate sat. "He said yes," he, for lack of a better word, giggled. Kate beamed and threw her arm around him, looking back at the shadows and grinning.

If you walked past the shadows at that moment, you might've heard the faint strumming of a C chord.


	2. Realization

Charlie and Kate trudged along. Charlie was meant to hold the bag as Kate climbed the trees. He stared dumbly around him, and you could almost hear him thinking:

"Did I lose her here? Or was it here?"

Kate noticed this, and tried to distract him. She joked with him, even turned on her charm that had seduced so many men. Charlie just blushed a little and counted the fruit in the bag. Counting, always counting…always making sure that they were both there…that they were both alive…that _he _wasn't around…that _they _weren't around…until…

"Oh no…" Kate muttered. "What?" Charlie asked. Kate blushed and smiled at him, embaressed. "I have to pee…" she told him, almost silently. Charlie's bloodshot eyes widened. "I'll only be gone for a second," she reassured him. "Just beyond those bushes…see? So you can't. See, that is." Charlie looked confused and was quiet.

"You'll come back?"

He asked it like a child, begging his mother not to leave him with the baby sitter. He looked like one too. He was sitting on the ground, with his legs folded under him, one hand holding a half eaten apple, the other one scratching his ear. Kate felt her heart breaking.

"Of course," she murmured. "I promise."

Charlie watched her until her bright green top dissappeared among the branches. He stared at his hand, the one holding the apple, and decided he didn't want it anymore. He threw it at the tree. It missed. Charlie looked up, gazing at the canopy, trying to see if he could see some sky peeking through. He couldn't. Sunlight barely touched his face. A bird flew overhead. Charlie counted the fruit. He was a good counter. He was good for something. He could hear good, too. If the people on the island liked him anymore, he'd be a good lookout. They just didn't. Like him, he meant. They were afraid of him.

He heard the scream then.


	3. Discovery

**Note**: this chapter has some gory moments in it. So turn away if you havea queasy stomach: also, thanks to all the supportive reviews I've gotten!

Charlie sat still for a moment, his eyes whipping around, searching for _that thing_. He could feel his heart pounding against his chest, and he wondered if _that thing _could hear him, smell him. It might've not been _that thing _making that sound…it sounded like a person. A…girl, in fact. A woman. Kate?

Then, he heard it again. Louder, and more panicky. And with a "HELP!" at the end, too. Charlie was up then, abandoning his beloved, painstakingly counted apples. He felt the branches whipping across his face, stinging his eyes, stinging his neck, stinging everything. He didn't know where he was going, or what he was doing, only that he was trying to get closer to that sound…that sound that was almost constant now, a battalion against his ears, a torture to his mind. Charlie tripped and fell, cutting his face on something. He felt a warm liquid trickle seep down his face and onto his shirt. Without looking, he knew it was blood. He had seen it before. He stood up and kept running.

He had run for a long, long time before he realized the screaming had stopped. He stooped down and tried to catch his breath, he realized he was in pain. Only after the pain set in did the fear.

He had no idea where he was. He looked around him and all he saw were tall, tall trees. Blue skies teased him from overhead, birds flew, birds sang…he touched his face and pulled away his hand sharply, wincing. The cut below his eye was bleeding badly now; if he didn't get it cleaned soon, it might get infected.

He walked on.

It felt like a voice inside of him was telling him where to step, like a guardian angel. Charlie was no forest ranger, he was a Rock Star, and Rock Stars don't venture much outside. Yet a little voice in Charlie's head told him to move forward…to move…closer…

"_Ughhhhhh_…."

The sound came from beyond the trees in front of Charlie. He stopped and stared at them. The noise continued, it was soft, and barely heard by Charlie and his pounding head. But he heard it, and he wondered if he should go.

Curiosity got the best of him, and passed through the trees quietly, bracing himself for the sight before him.

It was Kate: horribly disfigured, bloody Kate, but it was still her. She lay on the ground, her left arm disappearing into a mangled mass at the elbow, and her right arm nonexistent…the same with Kate's shoulder…her legs were twisted together like a pretzel, obviously broken. Her eyes were swollen shut and bleeding, her nose was bent in five places, making a zigzag line down to her mouth, which was, miraculously, unharmed. Blood, however, dribbled Charlie stood, looking at the creature that had once been Kate in front of him.

Kate looked up and sensed his presence. She opened her mouth…and Charlie saw where all the blood from her mouth was coming from. Her tongue was cut off. He winced. "Kate?" he asked. Kate spit out some blood and smiled. She flopped her arm around…thinking her hand was still there. Charlie knelt down and touched her face. She smiled more at his touch, but winced from the pain. "I'll go get Jack…" Charlie whispered. Kate shook her head.

Instead, he sat by Kate, keeping his hand on her head, like Jesus, until she finally stopped moving. When he couldn't feel her breath against his hand, he sighed and turned around.

Claire was standing there with a skinny stomach. "Cl-…Claire?" Charlie sputtered.

It was then he noticed the long, shiny, bloodstained knife she was holding. Claire looked at Charlie, confused and blinking back tears, and ran away.

Charlie ran after her…followed her, followed the guardian angel inside of him that led him to be with Kate in her last moments. He could barely see her long blonde hair…the hair he had grown to love, in front of him. "CLAIRE!" he yelled. "CLAIRE…WHERE'S THE BABY?"

She didn't stop; he kept chasing her. It was a sick cat and mouse game. Charlie continued to run until the swelling in his eye and the sweat pouring down his face made it impossible to see. He buckled over and breathed heavily for a few moments before he felt the hand on his shoulder. He swung around and gave whoever it was trying to attack him a punch in the face.

Sawyer fell down backwards. "OUCH!" he yelled, clutching his eye. "I just wanted to see if you were okay. Shows what happens every time some poor old boy tries to help a foreigner." He scurried off in a rattish way.

Charlie looked around for the first time. Claire had led him to the beach…although she was nowhere in sight. He saw Hurley and ran up to him. "Hurley!" he gasped. "I saw Claire!"

Hurley looked sympathetically at Charlie. "Charlie, no you didn't. The jungle makes you see weird things. I thought I saw Jessica Rabbit in that jungle." Charlie shook his head and continued babbling. "No! I swear!" Hurley shook his head, then noticed Charlie's cut. "Hey, man, what happened there?" Charlie touched his eye and took his hand from his face, staring at it. It was bloody…but not just with his own blood. With Kate's, too. "Oh my God," Charlie whispered. "Kate."


	4. Distrust

_**Note: **EEE! I love you all! Thanks for the supportive reviews. huggles everyone _

Hurley looked at Charlie. "Kate?" Charlie rubbed his eyes. "Charlie, what do you MEAN? What about Kate?" Charlie looked up at Hurley. "I need to see Jack."

Charlie told the entire story to a befuddled Jack. When he got to the part about finding Kate, Jack stopped him with a wave of his hand. "No," he smiled. "You're kidding, right, Charlie?" Charlie shook his head sadly. "See my hands?" he asked, thrusting them under Jack's eyes. "Could I have bled that much from this cut?"

Jack still refused to believe it. Charlie watched him pace around remembering the feeling deep in his stomach, the heavy weight he had felt when he lost Claire. "I saw her, Jack," Charlie said. "There was nothing you could've done. I made absolutely sure that she was gone before I left her…Jack, it was almost like she didn't _want_ to be saved…"

Jack shook his head. "This isn't funny, Charlie," he said, his smile wider than it needed to be. "She's not dead. You can stop kidding!" He threw Charlie a towel. "Use this to stop the blood." Charlie let the towel drop at his feet.

"Jack," he said. "I'm not kidding."

Jack sat down and rubbed his neck. "You're bleeding a lot." Charlie picked up the towel. "It's Kate's blood. I sat with her." Jack stood up suddenly. "Now, you're starting to piss me off, Charlie," he said threateningly. "I know you're kidding."

Charlie stood up just as quickly. "I'm telling the truth. Are you calling me a liar?" "Don't bring your oversized ego into this. We're talking about the well being of a person here, Charlie.

"Charlie?" Charlie had closed his eyes and sat back down. "Charlie?" Jack asked again. Charlie turned away. "Charlie?" He looked up at Jack, who had tears in his eyes. Charlie merely nodded.

Jack shook his head. "No…no…she's not dead. She's not. She wouldn't die, she wouldn't give up, not Kate…not _my _Kate, not the Kate that I know."

"Knew," Charlie silently corrected.

"You can come out now, Kate!" Jack yelled to jungle. It didn't reply. "YOU CAN COME OUT!" People in the caves began staring.

"GOD DAMMIT KATE, WHERE ARE YOU?" Jack said. He stormed away from Charlie and looked up, as if Kate would jump from a tree, smiling at him, saying, "Good job fooling him, Charlie!" "KATE!" he screamed. "KATE!" Charlie closed his eyes again, as if he could block out Jack's torment. "KATE!"

Jack's frantic screaming gave way to animal like sobbing. Charlie began to cry, too, even though it hurt his injury, the salty tears.

The next night, after Michael had calmed Jack down, they had a memorial for Kate on the beach. A huge bonfire burned, and everyone sat huddled close together. There wasn't a sermon spoken about the nonexistant morals of Kate, only from Sayid, who said, simply, "She was, to everyone, a sister foremost." At the end, Jack threw in the toy airplane. He watched it melt with a sad, wistful quality in his smile.

One person didn't join the circle. Sawyer stood beyond the fire, much like Charlie had the night two days before. He glared at Charlie, and after the cave dwellers decided to depart, Sawyer stopped him.

"I'm going to ask you one time, and one time only," Sawyer said to Charlie, dominating over him in size. "Did you kill her?"

Charlie looked up at him. "No," he said with quiet confidence. "But I know who did."

"Who?" Sawyer said. "Tell me, or so help me God I will crush you." Charlie was quiet for a long time.

"I can't."

Sawyer ran his fingers through his hair. "What? You can't, or you won't?" "Both," Charlie replied. "If you excuse me, I have to get back."

"Boy, you ain't goin' nowhere!" Sawyer stood in front of Charlie.

"Please," Charlie said. "I've already been hurt enough." Sawyer laughed and leaned down and whispered in Charlie's ear,

"I didn't love Kate. I _liked _her, I liked her partly because our hero liked her, and I like to piss him off. I liked her for myself, too. She liked me, too. She told me. She _trusted _me. We were friends. We were lovers. Can you understand me?" Charlie nodded. "If you laid a hand on her…if you _hurt _her…I will kill you. Or, I will tell Jack, and _he_ will kill you. Can you understand me?" Charlie nodded, and Sawyer was finished. "Good," he said.

"I didn't kill her," Charlie said. "I didn't hurt her. I would never hurt her…I would never hurt anyone."

"You hurt me, Charlie," Sawyer said, gesturing to his black eye. "Just tell me, who is you're trying to protect?"

Charlie shook and hung his head. "I can't." Sawyer nodded. "I know, I know. You won't tell me either. But if I find out that you had anything to do with it…"

Charlie nodded his head. "I understand. But you won't find anything." With that, Sawyer let him pass.

Charlie went back to the caves, but only for a moment. He pulled his guitar from behind the safe spot in his tree, where only two days before he had been teaching himself to play. People saw Charlie run out of the campsite. "Charlie!" a weary Jack called after him as he disappeared, running through the branches. "Come back! We don't want to lose _you_, too!"

Charlie ignored his claims and got to the beach. Sawyer, who was still reading Watership Down, even if only by firelight now, saw Charlie drag his guitar towards him. "What the…"

Charlie continued to drag his guitar, aware that almost everyone on the beach was following him now…to Kate's bonfire. He stood for a moment, inhaling deeply and exhaling in short, little spurts. Sawyer pushed to the front of the crowd. "Charlie…" he said quickly. "You don't have to do this. You don't have to prove anything to me." Charlie shook his head quickly. "I…I believe you! You didn't kill her, you couldn't…you…you couldn't hurt a fly!" Sawyer looked desperately at Charlie, and to the fire, and back at Charlie. "You love that guitar…it's _your _guitar…man, don't give it to Kate! She wasn't musically inclined…Charlie…come on man, be _reasonable._"

Charlie ignored his pleas. He took a deep breath, and threw it into the fire.

He spun around and ran back to the caves. He didn't even watch it burn.


	5. Goodbyes

**Author's Note: _Again, I love and thank you all. I was kind of panicking because I wasn't feeling very inspired…but then the Golden Globes came on with Dom in a tux. fangirlluv Thanks for showing me those pictures, Jessi...and I also do not own Watership Down or the text from that book placed in this fictional story. I don't own Lost either._**

"Charlie?"

Charlie turned around. He was collecting water from the caves in water bottles, to bring them to the beach. Ever since Kate died, and he realized that Claire was probably watching him, he felt he had to have more purpose in his life, so he was picking up more chores. He had ventured into the jungle on several occasions, but never far enough away so he couldn't hear people's voices. Sometimes, while he was collecting fruit, he would sit in his tree and just talk to Claire, just tell her what was going on.

"Michael got real pissed at Walt today," he said once. "Walt forgot to pick up his dog's crap, and Michael stepped in it. It was bloody hilarious…wish you could've been there." He picked something. "I…I miss you, Claire," he said. "I wish you would come back. We could protect you…Locke…he would protect you, he and his scary knives…and the Korean man…he seems pretty, y'know…scary too. He'd protect you…I'd protect you…

"I…burned my guitar," he admitted. "I don't know why…Sawyer thinks I killed her, Claire. I didn't tell him…I haven't told anyone that I saw you. They'd all think I'm crazy anyway…Jesus, I am crazy. I'm talking to myself in the middle of a jungle, to someone who probably can't even hear me…Claire, just come home. How's the baby? Is it okay? Did…did they take him? Claire…I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't believe you before. I'm just…I'm just sorry."

"Charlie?"

Charlie turned around. Sawyer was there with his hands behind his back, like he was holding something, like a bouquet. "Hello," Charlie said. Sawyer looked around hurriedly. Jack was watching them with a sour look on his face…Jack always knew that Kate had preferred Sawyer of him, after all, who wants the good guy?

"We don't have much time," Sawyer said. "Doctor man is lookin' over at us…" Charlie looked over at Jack, who smiled slightly at Charlie. These men had both loved and lost, and in that way, became friends. "Here…" Sawyer said, thrusting a small package under Charlie's nose. It was poorly wrapped in the pages from a book with small font… "..._of the wood, where the ground became open and sloped down to an old fence and a brambly ditch beyond, only a few fading patches of pale yellow still showed among the dog's mercury and oak-tree roots. On the other side of the fence, the upper part of the field was full of rabbit holes…"_ "I ripped out the first chapter of my book…" Sawyer mumbles. "I'm almost through with the second part…it was too thick anyway…"

Charlie ripped open the tiny package and out slipped a melted piece of metal. Charlie couldn't tell what it was. He turned it over and over in his hands.

"I found it in the ashes," Sawyer said. "It's from you guitar…I think it's one of those things that make the music sound _right_."

"A tuning key?" Charlie asked. "_My _tuning key?"

"Yeah, I guess," Sawyer said. "I was makin' the fire last night in the same spot, and it just glinted up at me…it was all that was left from it…" Sawyer stopped. "Do you like it?"

Charlie was quiet. "Charlie?" Sawyer asked, touching him on the shoulder lightly. Charlie looked up, and Sawyer saw that tears were in his eyes. "I can't take this, man…" he said. "I have to go." He ran into the jungle.

"Charlie, wait!" Jack said. He ran after him, but Sawyer put a hand out to stop him. "My god Sawyer, did you give him drugs? He's just getting over them!" "Let him go," Sawyer said quietly, and Jack saw that he was serious.

Charlie ran until he couldn't hear voices. He chucked the tuning key as hard as he could. "Christ, Claire! Just come back!" He sat down and leaned against a tree, crying softly.

He had been sitting there for a long time, thinking and crying and missing Claire, when something hard hit his head. "Damn," he said, rubbing the sore spot. He looked around on the ground and picked up the tuning key. "What?"

He looked up and saw a small person sitting in the tree. He stood up and backed away to get a better look. It wasn't a small person; it was a petite one, an adult. And…she was a girl, with long blonde hair. "Claire?" he whispered.

Claire gasped slightly and jumped down from the tree. She began to run, again. Charlie was quicker this time, less held down from grief, and he caught up to her. He grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.

"Charlie," Claire gasped. "You've got to let me go."

"Claire…it's really you!"

"Charlie, listen. They'll hurt her! You have to let me go…let me go!" Claire pleaded with him.

"Who? Who will they hurt Claire? I've missed you! We all have! So much has happened since you've been taken…Shannon and Sayid have been hooking up like mad…Kate's dead…" Charlie stopped suddenly and stared at Claire like he didn't know her. "But you already knew that, didn't you?" He let go. Claire stood there like she'd been slapped. "Oh, just run. Just leave. That's all your good at, isn't it?" "Charlie…" Claire whispered. Charlie sat down on the ground. "Go on, leave. I won't even look. I won't even follow you."

Claire touched Charlie's arm gently and he flinched. "Charlie, not everything on this island is what it looks like." "Oh, like I haven't figured that one out already." "I'm so sorry, so very sorry…" "Stop talking and just go."

Claire looked around her, as if to see if no one was watching. She sat down next to Charlie and hugged him. Then she kissed his cheek. "I love you, Charlie," she said. "I love you very, very much." She stood up and started walking away.

"Why can't you come back?" Charlie asked. He was crying again and standing, like he wanted to follow her, but couldn't. "Why can't you get her and come back?"

"It's not that simple, Charlie," Claire murmured. "There are people where I am. People make me do things. They make me hurt people."

"Do they make you hurt me?" Charlie asked simply.

"If they told me to, I would never do that," Claire told him. She was crying too. She ran to Charlie and hugged him.

"We miss you," Charlie sobbed into her shoulder. "_I _miss you."

"I'll be watching you, Charlie," Claire told him. "I will always be watching you." She let go of him and smiled slightly, and began walking away. Charlie raised his arm and kept his eyes on her until he couldn't see her anymore.


	6. Confession

**Note: **_CLAIRE'S BACK! And we have to wait a whole THREE WEEKS for the next episode? I hate ABC…but, as usual, I don't own it or Lost. I'd like to give a shout-out to Mel, whose rants inspired me for the Paranoid Charlie rant._

Charlie stumbled his way through the trees, still reeling from what he saw. Claire…it was really Claire. The Claire he knew, and the Claire the he loved. And she cared for him, too. She had kissed his cheek. He reached his hand up to touch the spot where the kiss had landed. It _felt _like Claire.

In his other hand, he still held the melted tuning key Sawyer had given him in a rare act of generosity that had probably only been seen by the late Kate. He had been squeezing it when he told Claire to leave, and it left a red imprint in his palm that hurt. Among other things that hurt, his eye was starting to bother him again. It had swollen a lot in the past few days.

All this time, Charlie was wandering aimlessly through the jungle, not really caring where he was because she was watching him. She was _always _watching him, remember that? Of course I do, you stupid fool, Charlie said to himself. My God, you're _talking _to yourself again! Pull yourself together!

Charlie looked around him. The area looked vaguely familiar, like a dream. No, not like a dream, like a memory. A repressed memory, that was now refusing his repressment and caving in on him.

Claire…her stomach started hurting. The baby started hurting, so he ran to find Jack, but found Ethan…instead of Jack, the helper, he found Ethan, the anti-Jack. How stupid could he possibly be? To tell a man he barely even knew…Charlie shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them. At least he knew where he was now. He glanced towards the cave and towards the beach, and turned towards the beach.

Sawyer greeted him when he came out of the jungle. "Where ya been, man?" he asked nonchalantly. "I was…Jack was worried about you."

"Sawyer," Charlie said quickly. "_I found her_."

"Who?"

"I found _her_…" Charlie muttered breathlessly. "I found _Claire_."

Sawyer shook his head and began walking down the beach. "Charlie, a lot of crap comes outta your mouth."

"I'm serious!" Charlie said, half-trotting to keep up with his long strides. "I was in the jungle after you gave me the key…"

"…Uh-huh…"

"…and I chucked it into the trees and sat under a tree for a bit…"

"Sobbing your heart out?" Sawyer chuckled.

"Yeah, but that's not important right now," Charlie said crossly.

"Well, continue then!"

"Ok. Well," he continued. "I was sitting under the tree when _the tuning key was dropped on my head_."

Sawyer stopped and turned to face him. His face said it all, but as usual, his mouth couldn't stop itself. "What are you _on_?"

"Claire dropped it on my head! And I found her! Well, more like she found me, but still! She kept talking about how they'd hurt _her _and Claire didn't even tell me who _she _is! And Claire kissed my cheek and…"

"Woah…" Sawyer smiled and clapped a hand on Charlie's shoulder. "Imaginary action, Charlie?"

"I'm serious!" Charlie exclaimed, shaking off his shoulder. "Can't you be _serious_?"

"I can be _very _serious," Sawyer said, with a _very_ serious look on his face.

"Well, good," Charlie said, a bit confused with the fact that someone was listening to him for once. "You do realize, we have to save her."

"Charlie," Sawyer exasperated. "You didn't see Claire."

"Yes I DID!" proclaimed Charlie indignantly.

"No, you didn't," Sawyer said thoughtfully. "You're hurt, and the jungle makes you see things."

"I did see her!"

"I've seen Kate in the jungle a couple of times," Sawyer confessed sadly. "Just because you see them don't mean our girls are coming home, kid."

"I'm sick of everyone treating me like I'm a _baby_!" Charlie blew up. "Do you KNOW how people look at me? I see it! They wonder, 'Why didn't that poor bloke _save her_!' YOU think it! I CAN SEE IT. I tried so bloody hard to save her! You don't think I tried, do you? You think I cowered at his feet? You think I didn't punch him, even as he beat me? You think I didn't bite his leg when I couldn't move mine? You think that I forget Claire's screams every night? I hear them! I hear her screams! And now, I'm trying to quiet them, and YOU won't believe me!"

"Charlie…" Sawyer said quietly. He was causing quite a scene, and people on the beach were beginning to stare.

"No, don't 'Charlie' me! It's always 'Charlie this' and 'Charlie that.' And ever since Kate died, I've been treated like an untouchable terminal patient or something! No one consoled me after she left! I am the freaking drowning man and no one wants to…save me or something! Yeah, no one wants to dive in and save me! No one wants to get their stupid clothes wet! Well, I'll tell you something, Sawyer, I want to get my clothes wet!" he finished loudly, waving his finger in Sawyer's face.

People on the beach were definitely staring now.

Sawyer was trying (unsuccessfully) to suppress a smile. Angry short men always made him laugh.

"STOP LAUGHING," Charlie said angrily.

"I'm…I'm sorry," Sawyer said. "I'll try to be _very _serious." Sawyer exploded and laughter filled the afternoon air.

"You're just mocking me," Charlie said, disgusted. "Fine. I'll just go back to the caves." He picked up his bag and began walking away. "_Jack _will help me find her."

Sawyer stopped laughing and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Fine," he said. "I'll help you."

"Seriously?"

"_Very _seriously," Sawyer responded, nodding his head.

"Good," Charlie said. He and Sawyer sat down on the sand. "There's one thing you should know, though."

"What?"

"Claire killed Kate."


	7. Another Death

**Note**: **_I am so sorry it took me so long to get this one out. My grandpa died just recently and unexpectedly so I haven't really been that inspired to write. If there's another chapter, I'll try to get it out sooner. _**

"Please don't tell Jack," Charlie said quietly after moments of stunned silence from Sawyer.

After sitting a few more moments staring at Charlie incredulously, Sawyer managed to spit out "She _did_?"

Charlie nodded. "I saw her…with the knife. When Kate died…I tried to chase her, but she got away. And then I found her…she was forced to, Sawyer. _Forced_."

"You're _serious_?"

Charlie nodded, saddened. "We have to save her," he insisted. "Before Ethan makes her kill someone else."

Sawyer leaned forward. "_Ethan_?" Charlie nodded. "You're serious?" Charlie nodded again, sadly. "Charlie, I'm no bounty hunter…I can't track nobody…you got the wrong guy."

"But you're the only one I can trust!" Charlie protested as Sawyer got up. "You have to help me…wait…where're you going?"

"Going to tell Jack," Sawyer said over his shoulder as he walked into the jungle.

"We can't! We can't tell Jack! Don't you get it? He'll ruin everything…he'll kill Claire."

"What do you think I want to do, son?" Sawyer said. "Man, I don't care who made whoever do whatever, now that you're girl is a hired thug…" Sawyer trailed off and continued walking.

Charlie kept walking. "Claire would never do something like that unless she was forced!"

Sawyer spat on the ground. "Maybe Claire got a bit jealous of Kate, eh? Did you ever think of that? Kate's stealin' Claire's prospects as a good father, you know how pregnant women can get."

Charlie stared unbelievingly at Sawyer. "No, I _don't_."

"Maybe she an' Ethan have somethin' going on, maybe she didn't want to hurt your feelings." Sawyer fell from behind as Charlie leapt on his back. He rolled over immediately and pinned Charlie down. "Wouldn't try that."

Charlie tried worthlessly to move his arms to punch Sawyer. "I hate you!" he cried in frustration.

Sawyer laughed. "What you gonna do about it?"

"Let me go and I'll do _something_!" Sawyer laughed again.

"…stop," a quiet voice said. The two men looked over and saw Claire leaning against a tree. She was wearing a navy blue suit, kind of like a flight attendants uniform. Sawyer got off of Charlie and shuddered. He made the connection, too.

"Is…is that _her_?" Sawyer asked, gesturing at Claire.

"I _told _you she was real," Charlie said scornfully as he stood up. He went over to Claire and hugged her. Claire hugged him awkwardly back, looking over his shoulder at Sawyer. "Did you tell him?" she asked.

"He's gonna help me free you!" Charlie said excitedly.

"Did you tell him what I _did_?"

Sawyer instantly remembered, then remembered his task. "Yeah, he told me what you _did_," he said, standing up. "And now I'm going to the caves to tell everyone."

"Sawyer, you can't," Claire said to Sawyer's turned back.

Sawyer stopped and turned around. He and Claire stood twenty feet apart. Charlie felt as if he was witnessing a western shootout. "And why is that?"

"You just…can't," Claire said. "I can't tell you, but you can't. Please Sawyer," she begged.

Sawyer began laughing, then stopped suddenly. He closed his eyes and smiled, then fell on the jungle floor, a knife sticking out of his back.

Claire turned to Charlie. "Charlie, run," she said.

"I can't! I can't leave you with that man!" Charlie said, flailing with his arms.

"I'll be fine, just _go_," she said, pushing him away. "Just don't tell anyone, or this will happen to them too!"

"I love you, though," he protested.

"Yes, yes, I _know_," Claire said exasperatedly. "Just _go_." Charlie began to hear the telltale thumping signs that everyone in the jungle had come to know. "_Go_." He went.


End file.
